A banker by career, a volunteer by nature, our long-time board member made an indelible impression on Freedom and on us.
Due to late notice to abutting property owners, Valley Point LLC on Tuesday temporarily withdrew its application for a gas station complex at routes 16 and 41 in West Ossipee. It plans to resubmit the plan and get on the docket for next month.
After mediation of a tax dispute between the Marist Brothers and the Town of Effingham broke down, the religious order took the town to court, where a judge ruled the camp flunked all four state tests to qualify for charitable tax exemption. More than $200,000 in back taxes is now at issue.
A local environmental organization says a proposed gas station-convenience store at routes 16 and 41 is a potential threat to groundwater and should be denied. In 2015 the town's Zoning Board granted a variance to install underground gas tanks for the development despite concerns that excavation could disrupt DES contamination mitigation work that has been ongoing at the site since 1993.
The Ossipee Selectman says the lack of a public beach on the town's biggest body of water is "pathetic." He says town officials have their eye on a possible site, and voters should authorize them to set aside town funds for an eventual purchase.
From 1949 to 1985, Mt. Whittier in West Ossipee was a skiing destination and off-season tourist attraction with gondola rides to the summit for scenic views of Ossipee Lake and the mountains beyond. A local writer takes a winter hike to the summit to savor memories of the property's glory days.
Ossipee Selectman Morgan may push for a new discussion at Town Meeting, Meanwhile, Dan Hole Watershed Trust will conduct the study on its own time and dime and post the results on its website.
Select Board hears from proponents of Dan Hole Watershed Trust's offer to fund and gift to the town a planning study rejected by voters last year, as well as those who don't want the study to be done no matter who pays for it. Board agrees to decide what to do at the next meeting. Article includes a link to the meeting video.
The bobcat is an adaptable predator that inhabits wooded areas as well as suburban backyards, forest edges, and swampy environments. It remains in some of its original range, but local populations are vulnerable to our many roads and also extirpation by coyotes and domestic animals. Bobcat sightings have become frequent in the Ossipee Lake area, making it timely to reprint this Country Ecology article.
A Superior Court judge has ordered that work on the Peninsula and other expansion construction must stop while Freedom’s lawsuit against Ossipee is considered. Meanwhile, the state agency overseeing compliance with FEMA regulations is looking at the situation.
In some years, news on the lake is dominated by a single story. Such was the case in 2016.
If the ruddy duck were school bus yellow, its posture in water would remind you of a rubber bathtub toy. This is a "prairie pothole" duck, and an odd duck in itself, in terms of breeding plumage and behavior. New Hampshire bird watchers are seeing an increasing number of these ducks on state lakes.
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